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midnight

(26,624 posts)
1. K&R
Sat Sep 8, 2012, 07:27 AM
Sep 2012

A $100 billion space station saved by a simple $3 toothbrush? It was the brainstorm of astronauts Sunita Williams and Akihido Hoshide and NASA engineers on the ground: a tool to clean a bolt that gave them so much trouble during a marathon 8-hour spacewalk last week.

They were trying to replace an electrical switching unit, but on Thursday they couldn't bolt it to the outside of the station.

What to do if there is no hardware store in the neighborhood and the next supply ship is months away? Build it yourself -- so they attached a simple toothbrush to a metal pole and voila! They were able to clean out the bolt's socket today and finish the job. Shades of Apollo 13 -- when engineers threw parts on a table and brainstormed a solution, which saved the crew.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/space-station-saved-toothbrush-astronauts-spacewalk-fasten-stuck/story?id=17160937#.UEsr2o69wUU


She touches the Sun from Space Photo [View all] Ichingcarpenter Sep 2012 OP
K&R midnight Sep 2012 #1
Thanks for the story Ichingcarpenter Sep 2012 #3
Stunning and inspiring--literally reaching for the stars! Surya Gayatri Sep 2012 #2
Wondering what the crushed milk jug does for them... FredStembottom Sep 2012 #4
Ad astra per aspera. ChazInAz Sep 2012 #5
A modern-day Prometheus.... lastlib Sep 2012 #6
That's not the Sun sakabatou Sep 2012 #7
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